


Sandy Cheeks

by Nejinee



Series: 2 lovestruck idiots and a dog [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Day At The Beach, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Food, M/M, Pets, smoochy kisses and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 15:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16200446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nejinee/pseuds/Nejinee
Summary: A day at the beach with Steve, Bucky and Blueberry.





	Sandy Cheeks

**Author's Note:**

> Misleading title. :D  
> just pure fluff for these hard times.

“Are you gonna help set up?” Steve griped.

“Nah, you got this, baby,” Bucky winked and ran after Blueberry down to the surf.

Steve stood there, hands on hips, with all their beachly possessions hanging off him.

He watched Bucky introduce Blueberry to the sea for the first time. The caramel and grey-splotched corgi was waggling her butt like mad and digging feverishly at the receding water. Bucky stood over her, bent low to probably coo encouragement into her ear.

God, Steve loved the two of them.

He sighed and put the cooler and their bags of shit down.

He shifted the beach umbrella off his shoulder and pressed the pointed tip into the sand, giving it a gentle twist. The umbrella slid about ten inches in and held. He nodded and popped the umbrella open for the first time. They’d found this beauty at another lawn sale Bucky had spotted. He was always out and about their neighbourhood, him and Blueberry. Steve liked to call them the neighbourhood watch, which wasn’t far off due to the fact they travelled around like scavengers, sniffing out every street and alley they could find. Bucky says it’s because “Blueberry deserves to experience her city as a tax-paying citizen and not like a damn tourist, Steven.”

Honestly, it was probably because Bucky’s paranoia wasn’t lessened, simply readjusted for the daytime. He wasn’t double-checking every lock at night anymore, but he was overly familiar with the strip mall of restaurants and real estate offices’ trash bags, which wasn’t alarming as much as it was weird.

So they got a sunny yellow and white striped umbrella for free. It was pretty big, just enough that when Steve unrolled his and Bucky’s towels, they fit under its shade neatly.

Steve’s was a plain blue and green striped thing. Bucky’s towel was a giant portrait of Blueberry that Sam got printed for him a few months back. Her oversized, slobbery face smiled back.

Steve smiled and unpacked their other miscellaneous supplies.

Thank god for the 21st century and its vacuum-sealed food and drink options.

Also: sunscreen.

Figuring out SPF had been another thing on Bucky’s list. Steve had never, ever, ever worn such shit in his life. Why would he? His skin would burn, sure, but it’d heal up pretty quickly too.

It was that damn internet article Bucky’d read on some mommy-blogger site that got him investigating the dangers of thesun.

So Bucky had gone on some mad crusade, insisting Steve slather himself in chemical compounds made of only god-knows-what so that he avoid burning up and dying before Bucky strangled him for giving their dog treats under the table (she’s on a strict diet).

For weeks Bucky would glare and stomp after Steve every time he wanted to leave the house.

The zinc-oxide sunscreens had made sense to Bucky. But when Sam and Natasha had almost split their sides at a bistro café when they spotted Steve’s mime white face, Steve decided enough was enough. He could only appease Bucky so much before it actually got in the way of him living his life in peace and with less ribbing from strangers and _friends._

Appeasing the crazily protective side of Bucky was a mission on its own. The compromise: Steve would wear SPF 90 whenever it was clear he’d be spending more than a couple hours in direct sunlight, especially between the hours of 11am and 4pm. And Steve got to choose the banana-scented cream of his choice because if he was going to have to wear this shit all the time, it would have to be comfortable and smell good.

Bucky bought a crate of the stuff online and had it delivered.

Compromises.

Steve sat on his towel and squinted down the sand.

He rested his elbows on his knees, feeling the soft breeze on his arms.

Bucky’s shirt was already soaked. Thankfully they’d arrived in their swim trunks, a far cry from the days when they (first of all) never swam, and if they had, they’d have done so in their damn skivvies.

The idiot was holding Blueberry over the waves while her tiny legs pedalled effortlessly in the air in anticipation of swim time. Bucky’s left arm sparkled under the bright midday sun, water droplets making the refractions sharper.

Bucky whooshed her around as if she were some fat, furry spaceship while he kicked up water and laughed like a fool.

Steve smiled. Blueberry’s tongue was lolling and she yapped happily, fairly impressed at her own ability to traverse the big wet monster that lapped at Bucky’s knees.

Bucky stood up, laughing loudly at something. He hauled Blueberry up and under his arm, then turned.

He smiled at Steve.

Steve waved.

Bucky said something to Blueberry, then traipsed up the sand, back toward Steve.

He plopped Blueberry down and she immediately tried to burrow her way through the towel of her own face, drying her snout on the soft fabric.

Bucky huffed and sat down beside Steve while she rolled about. He flicked his wet hair off his face. Steve stared.

“Cold?” he asked.

“Little bit,” Bucky said, scratching at Blueberry’s belly. He turned to look at Steve.“You gonna come swim?”

Steve grinned and pulled out an oversized bottle. “Sunscreen first?”

Bucky’s eyes lit up, “Oh hell yes.”

After getting his t-shirt off and folded neatly in his bag, Steve sat still and watched Blueberry snuffle at some nearby seaweed. Bucky moved to sit behind Steve and got to work. His metal hand was magic, kneading the cream into Steve’s shoulders.

“Isn’t it gonna get into the plates?” Steve hummed at a particularly good rub right behind his shoulder-blade.

“Nah,” Bucky said, squirting some cream onto Steve’s back.

“Ack!” Steve twisted. “Cold! You asshole.”

Bucky was probably smirking. He kept at it, rubbing Steve all over. He stroked the stuff down to the waistband of Steve’s trunks, even pushing some under there. He did a piss poor job of Steve’s front, choosing to just reach both hands round and rub Steve’s pecs for a stupidly long time.

Steve looked down at the hands kneading his muscles and sighed.

“Okay, pal,” Steve rolled his eyes, “enough of that.”

“What?” Bucky’s face was the picture of innocence as Steve got to his knees and turned to face him.

“Gimme the cream,” Steve snatched at the bottle.

“No, hey,” Bucky frowned, “it is my duty as your- _hey! Gimme that!_ It is my utter pleasure to rub this cancer-blocking medical treatment into your delicate, petal-thin skin, my sweet– _hey!_ ”

Steve snatched the bottle back.

“You’re a damn skeeze, Barnes,” Steve said.

“How dare you.” Bucky made a face, tugging at the sunscreen. “I am a venerated war hero with a purple heart and innumerable distinctions–”

“Most of which you can’t remember,” Steve said drily.

“Whatever, let me feel you up, Rogers, it’s my one joy in life.”

Steve sat back on his calves and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But you keep making a mess. Stop wasting that stuff. And what if someone sees?”

Bucky smiled and squirted almost an entire handful of the sunscreen onto his flesh palm. “They get a free show, is all.”

He spent a good five minutes rubbing and smoothing the cream into Steve’s chest and belly, under his arms and all the way down to his fingertips. He spent a long time just rubbing his fingers over Steve’s abs and poking his bellybutton for good measure.

He then pushed Steve to sit down properly, ass on towel, so as to get access to his legs and slather more onto them.

“I’m already covered in sand, Buck,” Steve whined. “You’re terrible.”

“It’s for your safety,” Bucky pressed on, hyper-focused on sliding his hands up Steve’s calf.

“Are you wearing any?” Steve countered.

Bucky snorted, “Try again, bub.”

 

* * *

 

They were both wearing sunglasses, something they’d learnt to get used to. Bucky’s had reflective blue lenses and Steve’s were more translucent, so you could see his eyelashes.

“You think she’ll know how to swim?” Steve murmured, standing ankle-deep in the cold-ass Atlantic water.

“Maybe,” Bucky murmured, staring down at Blueberry who was digging at the sand and barking at the water as it rushed around them. Her fur was bushy and wet and would need a serious brushing when they got home.

Steve looked Bucky over.

He was standing there in his red swim trunks, his chest glistening from the sun and water, relaxed and at ease. Steve was getting used to this smiley, laughing Bucky.

Bucky’s hair was getting long, almost touching his shoulders. Right now it was half-tied back, but many tendrils spilled down the back of his neck, just daring Steve to push at them with his fingers.

“What are you staring at?” Bucky asked.

“An ugly asshole,” Steve shrugged.

“Oh, like a few nights ago?” Bucky grinned and damnit, Steve scowled and blushed.

Blueberry barked and they both looked down. She panted up at them, her ears up and receptive.

“She might be hungry,” Steve murmured. “Did she take her meds?”

“Before we left,” Bucky said, bending down to scratch behind her ear. “Baby girl wants some nom noms?”

Blueberry yipped and twirled on the spot, splashing water all over.

“Well, we should probably eat too,” Steve said, heading up the sand. He’d resigned himself to the fact that they couldn’t really go for a good swim in the water and leave their dog behind.

“What we got?” Bucky said, following.

Steve got back down onto his towel and patted the cooler beside him.

Bucky creaked and bent, lowering himself to the ground at a much slower pace.

His joints always hurt these days. His hips and back too. Steve hummed to himself, making a mental note to get Maria back in for a treatment. Bucky was due for some osteo.

“I made sandwiches, plus I brought water and some juice things Clint mentioned. They’re in tubes.”

“Sure,” Bucky sighed and sat back, hands on the towel behind him, legs extended flat.

Steve opened up the cooler and started pulling things out.

Blueberry came snuffling closer.

“Hi muffin,” Steve said as she pushed her stubby paws against the cooler. “You want noms?”

She barked.

“Your manners are terrible,” Steve said, piling sandwiches on the hand towel he’d brought. “Here.”

He handed the dog a special treat: a pair of dried sweet potato chunks they’d gotten at the organic dog food store.

Blueberry snatched them and twirled, coming to a stop at the edge of Steve’s towel, facing away from them so she could enjoy her meal in peace.

“What’s in this?” Bucky said, taking two sandwiches from Steve and unwrapping the first with a critical eye.

“Sopressata, basil, mozzarella and tomatoes,” Steve hummed. He looked at Bucky, tilting his sunglasses down so as to be seen. “Extra meat. Just how you like it.”

“Good,” Bucky grunted and took a huge bite.

Steve unwrapped his own sandwich and sighed. They sat in silence and chewed their respective meals quietly, though Blueberry gave up a few snuffling snorts as she wrestled with hers.

A slight breeze wafted by. The beach was empty, it being a Wednesday. They were facing away from the city, giving them the illusion of being somewhere else. The drive down and around the bay had taken some time, their rental car just big enough to not stifle Bucky or rile up Blueberry.

It was the tail end of summer and the kids were all back at school, but because humanity was destroying the earth, it was still hot and looking to be a lot hotter for a lot longer.

“Sometimes I think maybe I shoulda let the tesseract just destroy everything,” Steve said around a mouthful.

Bucky looked up. Steve couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses. “You what? Can’t hear you over your gnashing and spewing.”

Steve rolled his eyes and threw his sandwich wrapper at Bucky’s head. “Nevermind.”

Bucky grinned and kept eating. He was already done his second sandwich, mowing through his third. The appetite situation was something both he and Steve had to keep an eye on. When either of them was running low, they tended to turn into cranky old farts who griped and swiped at one another.

Regular snacks and meals eased the tension.

“Done,” Bucky said, rolling up his sandwich wrappers into a shiny ball. “Still hungry.”

“You wanna let it settle a bit, champ?” Steve cocked a brow.

Bucky took his glasses off and glared. “You not gonna feed me anymore, Rogers?” he asked.

Steve shrugged, “I’m just saying, sometimes we gotta let the food settle. Give it twenty minutes.”

“Five,” Bucky countered with a scowl.

“Fifteen,” Steve said.

Bucky glared harder, his brows furrowing deeper in that dangerous, but adorable way of his. “Seven and a half.”

Steve laughed. “Okay. Seven and a half.”

He finished eating his own sandwich while Bucky wiped at the sand that speckled his arms and shoulders.

Blueberry chewed on her snack happily, content to not partake in any arguments.

“Okay, time’s up, I’m hungry,” Bucky said and reached for the cooler lid.

“Hey,” Steve smacked at his hand. “It’s barely been five minutes.”

“Steve,” Bucky stared at him with those grey-blue eyes of his. “I’m hungry.”

“You actually think that will work, don’t you?” Steve’s mouth twisted up at the side, impressed at Bucky’s need to play him. “For a sandwich.”

“Two sandwiches,” Bucky said.

Steve laughed again and opened up the cooler. “Fine, here. Have a couple of mine.”

Bucky snatched them and sat back down, unwrapping the packages with glee.

“Hey,” he stared at the first sandwich, then up at Steve. “There’s no meat on this.”

“Uh, yeah, I know,” Steve said, shutting up the cooler. “It’s good still.”

“Is this vegetarian?” Bucky asked, incredulous, appalled.

“Come on,” Steve sighed. “It’s really good. I make them all the time.”

Bucky was peeling back the top slice to make a face at the sandwich’s innards, like Steve had gutted a pig and thrown its entrails between two slabs of corn bread and sprinkled rabbit turds on it for good measure.

“Okay, look. It’s lettuce, radish, tomato, cucumber and some really good pesto. Taste it, Buck. It’s on sour dough, which you love. Come on.”

Bucky’s face was so unpleasant looking it was actually funny.

“Fine,” he said mulishly. “I’ll try it.”

Blueberry popped up, snuffling at what was in his hand. She poked her nose around the sandwich, then yipped loudly, plonking herself down in-between Bucky’s legs and panting.

“See?” Steve nodded.

Bucky took a bite of the sandwich, making a face of intense displeasure. “I deserve protein,” he garbled.

“Sorry, what?” Steve cupped a hand around the shell of his ear, “Can’t hear you over your masher of a mouth.”

Bucky scowled, but kept chewing.

He chewed some more. Then swallowed. Steve tried not to grin when Bucky took another bite.

Bucky chewed his way through both sandwiches in silence while Steve poured out some water for Blueberry into her collapsible rubber water bowl. She lapped at it happily.

When she was done, Steve looked up to find Bucky swallowing the last mouthful.

“And?” he asked.

Bucky threw the wrappers at Steve. “It was good,” he murmured.

“Still hungry?” Steve asked, picking up Bucky’s trash.

Bucky shook his head and scooched down his towel. He laid back, elbows on the cotton and stared out at the sea.

 

Twenty minutes went by. Steve was reading this new book Sam had recommended about the idiocy of people responsible for running government organizations. He chuckled every few minutes.

Bucky laid in the sun with Blueberry beside him, her legs pointing to the sky while he rubbed her belly. It was so peaceful, such a treat.

No one was around, not a soul. It was mildly desolate out here and it wasn’t even that much of a stretch from Brooklyn. The buildings ended abruptly at the beach fence, indicating that industrialization only had so far to go before mother nature halted its progress. It was strange to see withering and rusted buildings out here alongside the sea grass and sand. Maybe this was what the end of the world would look like?

Also, because everything was so bleak and quiet, it meant Bucky didn’t have to hide his arm in one of Stark’s ridiculous rubber cover-ups. Unlike the photostatic veil version, the rubber option was waterproof and wouldn’t short-circuit when wet. Downside was that it was stiff and weirdly skin-textured, so much so that it creeped Bucky out and he didn’t ever want to wear one again. Steve explained to Bucky the concept of the Uncanny Valley, but it wasn’t as interesting to Bucky as it was for Steve. Bucky just wanted to throw up every time he looked at the human arm skin sleeve Tony offered.

So a good idea, overall, to come here. They probably wouldn’t be able to swing it again anytime soon, but their luck was holding out.

“You’re gonna fall asleep,” Bucky murmured.

Steve turned and peered at him. Bucky wasn’t even under the shade of the umbrella anymore, his skin warm and tanning already.

“I’m reading,” Steve said.

“I know,” Bucky nodded. He got up on one elbow and twisted to face Steve. “That’s how you’re gonna fall asleep. You always fall asleep when reading.”

“I don’t think so, Buck,” Steve said and returned to his book which he held above his face.

Bucky snorted and got to his feet. “Suit yourself. I’m gonna take apple-bottom-jeans over here for a walk. Don’t roll into the sun. I’ll kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Steve responded, not even looking up as Bucky and Blueberry headed out.

 

* * *

 

“Mh,” Steve hummed, feeling something warm on his cheek. He moved his head to meet the warmth.

“Hey there,” Bucky intoned deeply.

“Mmm…hi,” Steve shifted, feeling soft and comfy and sleepy all at once.

He felt what must be Bucky’s lips on his cheek again. “You fell asleep, sweetheart.”

Steve cracked one eye open. Bucky was lying beside him on one elbow, looking down at his face. Steve could feel a hand on his chest, stroking.

Steve smiled and closed his eye. “I’m still asleep.”

“Oh, are you now?” Bucky said and Steve could hear the smile. “Like some princess or something, huh?”

Steve pinched his lips so he wouldn’t grin.

“Maybe you need some stupid prince to wake you up, your majesty. Weird-ass premise to wake up a damsel, but maybe just this once…” Another kiss on Steve’s cheek. Then another.

“Oh, hi there, princess,” Bucky cooed and Steve felt Blueberry shuffle over on his other side, her wet fur rubbing against his arm. She snuffled at his armpit, then his neck. “Daddy’s giving Steve kisses. Like this.”

Bucky kissed Steve’s lips.

Then a warm, wetness hit Steve’s other cheek and he held back a laugh.

“Are you kissing Steve too?” Bucky laughed as Blueberry pushed her paws against Steve’s shoulder, probably angling herself higher so she could lick at Steve’s face.

“Like this,” Bucky peppered kisses all over Steve’s face and Blueberry licked at him in much the same fashion, her snuffles loud in his ear.

Steve laughed and wriggled, feeling the kisses from all sides.

He opened his eyes and found Bucky leaning in to kiss a line across his jaw to his lips.

Blueberry huffed and licked Steve’s ear and over his other cheek again. Steve laughed and squirmed.

“Kisses,” Bucky hummed, peppering more kisses all over.”Kisses for our sweetcheeks.”

God, it was too good, too sweet, too adorable to bear.

“I love you,” Steve said and got up on his elbow so he could kiss Bucky properly. Blueberry yipped and hopped around on his other side, kicking up sand.

Bucky smiled into Steve’s mouth and kissed him right back. Steve pushed and Bucky rolled onto his back, letting Steve just go to town.

They necked for a good while before Steve came up for air.

“You okay?” Bucky grinned up at him. He felt warm and flush and looked so happy Steve thought his chest might just crack open and spill his heart out right here.

“More than okay,” Steve hummed and pushed Bucky’s hair out of his eyes. “How was your walk?”

Bucky shrugged. “Same ol’ same ol’. Blueberry found a friend.”

Steve rolled off Bucky and sat up.

“A friend?”

Bucky followed suit. “Yup, check him out.”

He pointed to something on Bucky’s towel. Steve leaned over to pick it up.

“A rock,” he said tonelessly, turning the grey blob over in his hand.

“Yep,” Bucky chuckled. “Wouldn’t leave the damn thing alone. I dunno, she wanted it.”

As if on cue, Blueberry rustled over, butt wagging and gently tugged the rock out of Steve’s hand while maintaining eye contact. Steve laughed and let her go. She carried it to the sand hole she’d been digging just beyond the towels.

“How long was I out?” Steve rubbed at his face, feeling the gritty sand in every crease.

“Almost an hour,” Bucky murmured. Steve looked up and noticed the umbrella had moved. Bucky must have replanted it so the shade covered Steve while he slept. What a doll.

Steve yawned and stretched his arms, looking about for his book. It was mashed into the sand beside the cooler. Darn it.

He pulled it free, shaking sand out of its pages.

“Wanna go for another swim?” Bucky leaned in again and kissed Steve’s shoulder. Steve turned his head and caught Bucky’s gaze. God, he was so beautiful and perfect and everything Steve had ever wanted.

“I…” he swallowed. “Yeah, Buck. Let’s go for a swim.”

 

* * *

 

Getting home was more of an ordeal than leaving.

They had to shake out all the shirts and towels before carrying them back to the car. Bucky had to dig out their shoes from the trunk before Steve could get his feet anywhere near the pedals. They tried to scrub as much of the beach off themselves and Blueberry before giving up and swearing to just vacuum the damn car tomorrow anyway.

The drive home was peaceful. Blueberry was asleep the whole way, set up on a backseat mattress Bucky had finagled into place so she wouldn’t rock about while Steve navigated the winding roads in and out of the city.

They pulled up to their house, the purple and orange sunset blushing all around them, making everything seem surreal and out of place.

Steve carried the cooler and their bags inside, leaving Bucky to unpack the dog mattress from the car.

When, after fifteen minutes, Bucky didn’t appear inside, Steve went back out to investigate.

What he found was Bucky, sitting on the damn sidewalk, with eight to ten strange dogs all milling around him.

“What the–” Steve stopped, eyes following the dogs’ leashes up to what looked like a … girdle of some sort attached to a young woman with close-cropped hair and a wide smile.

“Hi!” she waved.

“And you just…” Bucky was saying, patting the head of a fluffy white dog. He looked overwhelmed. “–you just walk them all? Every day?”

“That’s my job,” the woman said. She smiled at Steve. “Hi, I’m Sasha. We were just walking by. I hope this isn’t a bother.”

“Uhm, no, not at all,” Steve came closer. “Bucky, are you okay?”

Bucky glanced up at him. His eyes were so _round_. “ _Steve,_ ” he said hoarsely, still scratching at the white dog’s ears. “She gets to walk all these dogs. All the time. It’s her _job.”_

“That it is,” Sasha chuckled.

Steve bent down to pet a floppy-eared dog with big brown eyes. “Hello, what’s your name, pal?”

“That’s Bertie,” Sasha said.

“Beagle,” Bucky added.

“And those two are Avocado and Fishpaste,” Sasha said, pointing to two dogs currently snuffling around Blueberry.

“Pomeranian. Whippet,” Bucky said.

“And Louise and Louie.”

“Samoyed and Husky.”

A terrifyingly strange, long-legged dog came up to Steve and sniffed at his shoes.

“That’s Firecracker,” Sasha laughed.

“Irish Wolfhound,” Bucky murmured, eyes on the dog.

The dog was met by another tall dog with glossy blonde fur and a long snout.

“And then there’s Gertrude and Shapiro,” Sasha said.

Steve blinked and realized there was a tiny dog standing between the front paws of the glossy dog. This one looked too small to exist.

“Afghan and Chihuahua,” Bucky said, eyes on the dogs all around him. Blueberry got into the space between Bucky and the white, fluffy…what was it? Samoyed?

She got up onto her back paws, put her front paws on Bucky’s chest and yipped at him and tried to lick his face, all while her stubby tail wagged her butt.

“She’s a beauty, sir,” Sasha said, smiling down at Blueberry. “One of the prettiest corgis I’ve ever seen.”

“Uhm, thanks,” Steve rubbed at the back of his head and wondered how this young woman could manage the trail of leashes and animals.

Bucky hugged Blueberry while simultaneously petting the Beagle nearby; splayed-legged on the sidewalk in his still-drying trunks and shirt and smelling of the sea.

God, he was really happy, wasn’t he?

“I think you just made his day,” Steve smiled and gave Sasha the thumbs-up. And if Bucky was happy, well, Steve was happy too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. :)
> 
> Credit: The kissy face scene is entirely inspired by [the most adorable video in existence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfNSwGs97_A)


End file.
